All The Signs
by PhoenixMirror27414
Summary: Bella has been experiencing problems for a while but this is the first time it's been noticed. Bella has Ménière's disease and she has to learn to deal with this new problem, as well as the fear of being permanently deaf. B/E
1. Chapter 1

I was woken from my peaceful slumber by the feeling of someone shaking my shoulder, when I finally opened my eyes I saw Alice peering into my eyes. Her lips moved as if she was talking, but no sound came out, I supposed she was talking to someone else, to low for my human ears to pick up on the words. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, the cold air made me shiver.

Alice was frowning as she spoke, I wondered if someone in the house was quietly arguing with her, it used to be annoying, but I had grown used to them talking too quietly for me to hear and now I just appreciated that they were hear, even if they did talk very quietly. They had only been back a couple of weeks, but everyone had settled back into life. I was much better, I looked alive as I was sleeping at night and no longer had a skeletal figure.

I felt Alice tap my arm and she looked at me strangely. I just raised an eyebrow and sat up, Charlie was away fishing for the weekend, so I was staying with the Cullens, Edward was hunting and he didn't seem to be back. I stood up off the comfortable sofa and grabbed my clothes from my bag. Alice didn't say anything so I assumed that I should just go get dressed.

When I returned to Edward's room, Alice was gone. I shoved my pyjamas into my back and tied my hair back. When I went downstairs the house was extremely quiet. Finally I heard a sound, a small buzzing, it seemed like it was in my ear, I rubbed it and shook my head, it wouldn't leave. Esme was in the kitchen, she seemed to be frying eggs, I sat next to the island in the kitchen and poured a glass of water.

Alice danced into the kitchen, she was still talking under her breath, Esme seemed to be replying. They both shot me worried looks and turned away when they saw me looking over.

Finally the buzzing began to subside and Alice started speaking louder, so did Esme.

"Do you see? It's beginning to worry me?" Alice said fearfully.

"Have you looked into the future?" Esme asked calmly.

"Not yet." Alice admitted.

"What's happened? Has something happened to anyone?" I asked worriedly.

Alice's eyes darted to my face and she appeared directly in front of me, moving to quickly for my human eyes to comprehend.

"You heard that?" She asked hopefully.

"Of course, you were talking normal volume."I said confused with her question.

"I know, I've been talking like that all morning and you haven't replied to me one, you didn't answer Esme either." Alice explained.

"I'm so sorry, I can't believe I ignored you both, I honestly didn't hear you." I apologised frantically.

"I know you couldn't, that's what worried us." Esme said, placing the plate in front of me. I thanked her.

Alice sat down opposite me and her eyes repeatedly went blank, before she refocussed and frowned.

"Bella, could you decide to talk to Carlisle about this please?" She asked.

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"I see the future based on decisions,I need you to decide to talk to Carlisle about this so that I can see the outcome." She explained. I nodded, and decided that I would speak to Carlisle about my temporary deafness as soon as I finished my eggs.

Alice's eyes glazed over as she flicked through visions of the future. I waited patiently, my foot tapping with anxiety, even Esme was standing behind me, watching Alice's face with worried eyes.

Alice finally refocussed and gasped. "Oh my." she murmured looking at me. "I don't know how to explain this properly."

"Just try your best, Dear." Esme said reassuringly.

"Bella, you have something called Ménière's disease." Alice said, her bell like voice said the word as though they were a new language.

Carlisle was downstairs in the kitchen in a flash, I supposed the sound of his name had drawn him to listen in, by the look on his face he didn't seem happy with Alice's confession. "Are you sure?" He asked her calmly, yet his eyes showed his stress.

"Positive, I saw you diagnose her yourself." Alice said surely.

"What is Ménière's disease?" I asked nervously. Three pairs of golden eyes flashed to my face.

"Ménière's disease is a disorder of the inner ear." Carlisle said, as Esme took my plate to wash it, but I knew she was still listening. "It basically means that you have a buzzing or ringing noise in your ear, vertigo and fluctuating hearing loss."

"I haven't had vertigo though." I said, frowning.

"It starts with one symptom and gradually the others appear, as soon as you experience vertigo then you'll have the final symptom." Carlisle explained.

"And the hearing loss is only fluctuating, it'll go away eventually, won't it." I asked fearfully.

Carlisle grimaced. "Actually, it will get worse until your hearing loss is permanent."

"And it's guaranteed?" I asked, trying to control my emotions.

"Not necessarily, in fact only a small percentage become permanently deaf, but periods of hearing will be short." Carlisle explained.

"Actually..." Alice said with a sad expression.

I could feel the tears in my eyes, I was going to go deaf. I wouldn't be able to hear Edward's sweet voice, or communicate with him.

"It won't affect my ability to speak, will it?"

"It may not, but many people find that they are unsure how to form the words and they resort to sign language instead." Carlisle explained.

"Alice, do you know how long Edward will be?" I asked.

"About five minutes." She said, her sad eyes on my face.

"Excuse me please." I said standing up.

"Of course, Dear." Esme said.

I walked upstairs quietly, the tears I had been holding back finally made their way down my face as I curled up on the leather sofa, waiting for Edward. I was always a burden, if I wasn't in danger I was causing a problem that would change people's lives. Charlie. He didn't know, he wouldn't be able to talk to me, and then there was my human friends. I knew that I would probably learn sign language, but not many other people knew it too.

* * *

**AN**

**Thank you for reading, sorry if any facts are incorrect. I researched this as best I could.**

**I do not in any way own Twilight or any of the characters.**

**xx**


	2. Chapter 2

I heard a quiet knock on the door and looked up to see Alice's sad face. I felt a pang of guilt, knowing that I was the reason why the usually chirpy, energetic vampire was looking so somber and upset .

"Hey Alice." I said and patted the sofa. She danced over, her step was missing it's usual spring.

"Carlisle wants to run a few tests, just in case I missed anything in my vision. " She said, settling down on the sofa next to me, her tawny eyes were large and shocked, like a child who had just been told that Santa Claus didn't exist.

"That makes sense, I suppose." I said, I was straining myself to try to hear as much as I could, waiting for the moment when my hearing would unavoidably vanish .

"Everything will work out, Bella. You'll see." Alice vowed, somehow I couldn't feel the same degree of certainty as she obviously could.

"Alice? Why do I have so many symptoms? Carlisle said that they were gradual." I asked her.

"Carlisle believes that you've has the disease for a while and it has gone undiagnosed for a long time, possibly the only reason we noticed is because you were staying over here."

"Isn't there any way to treat it?" I pleaded.

"Come on, let's go talk to Carlisle. Edward will be a while longer, he ran into an unexpected mountain lion that he just couldn't resist." She said as she stood.

"Alright." I was feeling jittery and nervous the whole way along the corridor to Carlisle's study. Alice smiled reassuringly and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Carlisle's cool voice said, it was tinged with what sounded like anxiety.

"Hey, Carlisle. Bella was wondering if you could explain some stuff about various treatment procedures to her." Alice said, dancing into the room and sitting in one of the seats by the desk.

"Of course I can." Carlisle said, smiling warmly and gesturing to the other seat. I took it and waited nervously.

"Is there a way to treat it?" I asked quietly.

"Ménière's disease, as you already know, has a few symptoms. Tinnitus, which is the ringing or buzzing that you will sometimes hear, vertigo and hearing loss." Carlisle said as though he had the words rehearsed, I wondered how many people he'd diagnosed throughout his time. "First of all, there is the possibility of putting you on a low salt diet, nothing has been proven, but it seems to help control the disease."

He paused and let me digest that. "That seems doable." I said, it sounded like someone was choking me, I cleared my throat and waited for him to continue.

"There is also medication available to help prevent and treat any attacks, various therapy opportunities such as physiotherapy and sound therapy as well as others and surgery." Carlisle's expression became a lot more serious. "There is also treatment for anxiety, stress and depression."

"Anxiety, stress and depression?" I squeaked. Alice shot me a sympathetic look.

"The attacks tend to be rather unpredictable which can lead to anxiety and stress, as well as becoming depressed due to the hearing loss." Carlisle frowned as though in pain. "We will all be there for you, Bella."

"Thank you." I said quietly.

"The medication that can be given during an attack usually treats the symptoms of vertigo, nausea and vomiting" Carlisle said. "You could either have an antihistamine which have side effects of tiredness, headaches, upset stomach as well as others depending on which antihistamine you get, or you could take a Prochlorperazine which can have the side effects of tremors and involuntary facial or body movements."

"They don't sound very pleasant." I murmured.

"They're not but you could take betahistine to try to relieve the symptoms. Once again there is no guarantee that betahistine will work in some cases it has and in some cases it hasn't." Carlisle said .

"So nothing is completely guaranteed to work." I sighed.

"I'm sorry, Bella." Carlisle said. "Surgery isn't guaranteed to work, but the therapy may help you."

"What kind of therapy?" I asked, my voice sounded defeated.

"First there is sound therapy, which works on making the tinnitus seem a lot less intrusive, it can be quite effective so I'd recommend considering it. Then the re is relaxation techniques, which don't stop symptoms per se, but rather it helps to avoid stress and anxiety. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy -CBT- I'm hesitant to advise. It works by changing the way you think and act." Carlisle trailed off.

"I definitely don't want to change anymore than I'm already going to." I said stubbornly.

"I wouldn't expect you to, Bella." Carlisle smiled. "They're all for treating the tinnitus. There is Physiotherapy that would help balance problems and vertigo. "

"Do you think this disease is the reason I'm so clumsy?" I asked hopefully.

"I think it may have something to do with it. Maybe not the sole reason, but it definitely hasn't helped your balance at all." Carlisle and Alice laughed as I blushed.

I huffed slightly. "Sure, make fun of the human." I muttered light-heartedly.

"Don't pout so much Bella. Edward will think we've tortured you or something equally over dramatic." Alice chuckled.

I swallowed nervously. "How long will Edward be?" I asked, both wishing he'd be here soon and that he'd take longer.

"Ten minutes." Alice answered automatically.

"How will he take the news?" I asked her.

"He's going to be worried, insanely over-bearing and he'll quiz Carlisle for a few hours." Alice said.

"I wouldn't expect any less." Carlisle chuckled humourlessly.

"How do I tell him?" I asked them both as I covered my face with a hand.

"He'll probably hear our thoughts before he arrives, so it's mostly a matter of confirming it and waiting for him to calm down." Carlisle said, he looked calmer than I felt.

"ETA seven minutes." Alice chirped.

"ETA?" I asked confused, Carlisle chuckled.

"Estimated Time of Arrival." He told me, shaking his head in amusement at Alice.

"How long until he can hear you?"

"A couple of minutes, he may arrive sooner if he panics and speeds up." Alice said, her eyes unfocussed.

"Which he will." Carlisle muttered.

"Come on, it'll be best to meet him in the kitchen otherwise he'll break the handrail on the stairs and Esme won't be pleased." Alice said standing.

I stood up feeling shaky, I wondered if it was a symptom from the disease or if I was digesting the information I'd just been told. Carlisle smiled reassuringly and walked down the stairs with Alice and I.

We were met with an extremely anxious Esme in the kitchen, I knew she would have heard every word that had been uttered. She wrapped me in a tight hug the moment that she saw me.

"Carlisle's right, Bella. We will be here for you no matter what you need, it doesn't matter if it's three in the morning and you are worried, we'll be here." Esme whispered in my ear as she held me.

"Thank you." I said tearfully, I tried to hold it together telling myself that Edward would be here soon and he'd only worry if he saw me in tears.

"He's hurrying up, he heard Esme's thoughts, he doesn't know the full story yet, only that something is wrong." Alice murmured. "He'll be here very soon, there's a reason we say he's the fastest."

I watched the door quietly, Esme stroked my arm comfortingly as we waited.

The door flew open suddenly, a loud crack made me jump slightly. Edward stood there, eyes on me, brow furrowed in worry and a door handle in one hand.

"Bella." He breathed, rushing over to me, his eyes slowly darkening despite his very recent hunt as he took in my face.

* * *

**AN**

**Thanks for all the support. **

**This chapter may be a bit strange with the format, as when I saved it, it added spaces into the words so 'Carlisle' would become 'Carl is le'. I think I got it all corrected but I may have missed some, my apologies.**

**I do not own twilight!**


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